The Role of Light and Endogenous Factors in the Timing of the Reproductive Cycle of<i>Typosyllis prolifera</i>and some other Polychaetes

Franke, Heinz-Dieter

doi:10.1093/icb/26.2.433

Cited by 36 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The spawning of many free-spawning marine invertebrates is regulated by a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors (e.g. the gastropod Gibbula umbilicalis, Clare 1986; the polychaete Typosyllis prolifera, Franke 1986). Rarely are exogenous factors alone responsible for synchronizing spawning (Naylor 1976, Olive & Garwood 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern, synchrony and predictability of spawning of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina from Heron Reef, Australia

Counihan¹,

McNamara²,

Souter³

et al. 2001

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The spawning biology of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina on Heron Reef, Australia, was investigated to identify putative environmental and endogenous factors controlling spawning. Spawnings by H. asinina were highly regular and, in comparison to most other haliotids and marine invertebrates, frequent and extremely synchronous. These events appeared to be regulated by more than 1 environmental cue. The spawning season of H. asinina extends from October to April and is associated with an increase in water temperature. During the spawning season, recently captured abalone, housed in flow-through aquaria, released gametes for 2 nights every 2 wk during the new and full moons. However, the exact date of spawning did not correlate precisely with the lunar cycle. Occasionally the spawning events between 2 populations of H. asinina on Heron Reef that were 1.5 km apart differed by 1 d, suggesting that differential tidal regimes might influence the date of spawning. The population that was exposed to slightly longer spring low tides occasionally spawned 1 d earlier.In the aquaria, the onset of male spawnings was earlier than the onset of female spawnings by an average of 31 min. The time of spawning of either sex was highly correlated with the evening high tide; males spawned an average of 19 min prior to the high tide, and females spawned 11 min after the high tide. Spawnings were highly synchronous amongst individuals, with 90% commencing spawning within 89 min of the first individual that spawned. A greater percentage of individuals spawned when in the presence of the opposite sex and the frequency of male ejaculation was greater when in the presence of females. Synchronous spawning patterns persisted for 6 wk in H. asinina maintained in aquaria; after this period, spawnings continued but were irregular and asynchronous. We propose that low tide exposure and time of high tide indirectly regulate the date and time of spawning respectively, and that these tidal elements influence the spawning biology of H. asinina by maintaining endogenous rhythms that persist in non-tidal environments for at least 6 wk.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern, synchrony and predictability of spawning of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina from Heron Reef, Australia

Counihan¹,

McNamara²,

Souter³

et al. 2001

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…The "circalunar burst hypothesis" suggests that female V. annecohenae molt and become receptive cyclically due to endogenous, circalunar rhythms (e.g., at full moon) similar to other groups of crustaceans (Reaka 1976;Franke 1986), thus creating peak breeding periods under speciWc light and tidal conditions (Fig. 1c).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Darkness as an ecological resource: the role of light in partitioning the nocturnal niche

et al. 2009

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Nocturnal behaviors that vary as a function of light intensity, either from the setting sun or the moon, are typically labeled as circadian or circalunar. Both of these terms refer to endogenous time-dependent behaviors. In contrast, the nightly reproductive and feeding behaviors of Vargula annecohenae, a bioluminescent ostracod (Arthropoda: Crustacea) fluctuate in response to light intensity, an exogenous factor that is not strictly time-dependent. We measured adult and juvenile activity of V. annecohenae throughout lunar cycles in January/February and June 2003. Overnight and nightly measurements of foraging and reproductive behavior of adult V. annecohenae indicated that activity was greatest when a critical "dark threshold" was reached and that the dark threshold for adult V. annecohenae is met when less than a third of the moon is visible or at the intensity of light 2-3 min before the start of nautical twilight when no moon is illuminated. Juvenile V. annecohenae were also nocturnally active but demonstrated little or no response to lunar illumination, remaining active even during brightly moonlit periods. In addition to light level, water velocity also influenced the behaviors of V. annecohenae, with fewer juveniles and adults actively foraging on nights when water velocity was high (>25 cm/s). Our data demonstrate that the strongest environmental factor influencing adult feeding and reproductive behaviors of V. annecohenae is the availability of time when illumination is below the critical dark threshold. This dependence on darkness for successful growth and reproduction allows us to classify darkness as a resource, in the same way that the term has been applied to time, space and temperature.

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“…Photoperiodic responses play an important role in the control of sexual reproduction of Nereis virens Olive et al, 1998;Rees and Olive, 1999) and a number of other phylodocid polychaetes (Clark, 1988;Franke, 1986;Garwood, 1982). In addition to the transduction of photoperiodic information (relative duration of photophase and scotophase), there is also evidence of long-term circa-annual cycling (Olive, 1995) or at least the operation of long-period interval timing capability .…”

Section: Long-term Biorhythmicity and Seasonal Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dancing to the rhythms of geological time: the biorhythm capabilities of Polychaeta in a geological context

Olive¹,

Kyriacou

Kramer³

et al. 2005

Invertebrate Reproduction & Development

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Errant polychaete worms in the Orders Eunicida (family Eunicidae) and Phyllodocida (families Nereidae and Polynoidae) exhibit a highly developed biorhythmic capability. The Pacific palolo worms are well known for a precisely timed annual breeding event in which mass spawning occurs at a particular time of day, on one day per year, that day having a fixed relationship to the lunar period. Nereidae and Polynoidae exhibit photoperiodic responses that determine the breeding season by regulation of oocyte growth. Nereis virens shows short-term cycles of foraging activity; automated recording of these patterns has revealed four distinct behaviour rhythm phenotypes: circadian, tidal, lunidian and arrhythmic, the last phenotype being expressed during the photoperiod induced growth diapause. The Eunicids and Phyllodocids are represented in the fossil record by scolecodonts, their fossilised jaws. There was a major radiation of these polychaetes during the Ordovician and the earliest suggested polychaete fossils are from the Cambrian. The simultaneous expression of tidal and circadian rhythmicity is characteristic of intertidal animals and it is likely that this complex behavioural repertoire was found in the ancestors of modern terrestrial forms, such as tetrapods and arthropods, prior to their emergence onto land during the Carboniferous and Silurian periods at least 400 Ma. The period of the earth's rotation, and hence day length and tidal period, has long been known to be increasing, and additionally the moon to be retreating from the earth, due to the phenomenon of tidal friction caused by the gravitational interactions between the moon and the earth. These changes are significant over a geological time scale. Consequently, the length of day was substantially less (and the number of days in a year more) than at present in the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. Recent theoretical analysis of the period of the earth's rotation suggests that the day length prior to a critical period (t crit ) around 1800 Ma may have been stable, with a length of only 4 h. At that time a period of more rapid change in the dynamics of the rotation was initiated. The implications of this theory for the evolution of the biological clock are discussed.

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The Role of Light and Endogenous Factors in the Timing of the Reproductive Cycle ofTyposyllis proliferaand some other Polychaetes

Cited by 36 publications

References 8 publications

Pattern, synchrony and predictability of spawning of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina from Heron Reef, Australia

Pattern, synchrony and predictability of spawning of the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina from Heron Reef, Australia

Darkness as an ecological resource: the role of light in partitioning the nocturnal niche

Dancing to the rhythms of geological time: the biorhythm capabilities of Polychaeta in a geological context

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